https://theconversation.com/americas-legendary-ignorance-about-africa-persists-65353
America’s legendary ignorance about Africa persists
September 19, 2016 9.27pm SAST
Julius A. Amin
Author
Julius A. Amin
Professor, Department of History, University of Dayton
Fifty six years ago, John F. Kennedy made 479 references to Africa
during the US presidential campaign. He observed that America had lost
ground on the continent because of failures to meet the “need and
aspirations of the African people”.
President Kennedy charted a new path in US-Africa relations. He
created the Peace Corps, and the United States Agency for
International Development. And, unlike his predecessors, he began to
show more respect and dignity for African leaders.
To African people, Kennedy was the “great one,” and a “friend of the
coloured man everywhere”. He began the process to change the “ugly
American” image which characterised his predecessor, Dwight
Eisenhower’s, foreign policy towards the Third World.
But the new directions initiated by Kennedy were short-lived as his
successors reverted to previous policies. While Lyndon Johnson
labelled Africans “cannibals” , Richard Nixon ridiculed blacks as
“genetically inferior” to whites. And, Ronald Reagan’s pro-Apartheid
policy of Constructive Engagement was consistent with his overall
African policy.
Though more recently during President Barack Obama’s presidency there
was a shift in policy, there continues to be immense and sometimes
shameful ignorance in America about Africa.
Popular notions range from seeing the continent through a monolithic
lens to depicting it as suffocated with disease, tribal wars, famine,
corruption, cannibals and crime.
Even the Peace Corps and university students, both a hallmark of
American idealism, were not immune. While some Peace Corps officials
talked of “primitive mud huts” all over Africa’s landscape, college
students imagined the region to be a
place of destruction, primitive conditions, and injustice, and where
people practice strange religions.
Though scholars have long discarded those images and corrected the
historical record, the negative perceptions have persisted, and
continue to dominate the thinking of major political leaders in
America.
In an increasingly interconnected and technological global
environment, ignorance of Africa is no longer acceptable. This,
especially from major political leaders. Yet, examples of such
ignorance are evident in the current American presidential campaign.
Neither the Republican nominee Donald J. Trump nor the democratic
nominee Hillary R. Clinton has articulated any concrete vision for an
African policy.
During the primary season, Africa came up and when it did it was
either in the context of terrorism or as an afterthought. There seems
to be little realisation by both candidates that in the current fluid
and interdependent global environment, Africa has emerged as a
strategic partner in trade, peace, and security. A case in point is
the US African Command which collaborates with African governments and
regional organisations to combat terrorism.
Africa in perspective
Africa, the second largest continent, is over three times the size of
the US and has 54 nations. It is the ancestral home of roughly 13% of
America’s population; namely African-Americans.
Its complex cultures, languages, and religions have contributed to
global cultures. It is the ancestral site of humankind. It is home to
renowned economic, social and educational institutions including the
University of Cape Town, University of Ghana, and the University of
Ibadan. Its other impressive institutions include the Dangote Group
businesses and the Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation.
It is also the land of vital minerals such as coltan, essential for
the world’s software and telecommunication industry.
Africa’s raw materials are vital to the global economic system. Its
rising consumer culture has transformed the continent into a major
market for manufactured goods.
Two years ago at the US-African Leaders Summit President Obama called
for the creation of “genuine partnership” in US-Africa relations.
Africa is now a key battleground for the US and China where both
nations are locked in a struggle to gain a competitive edge.
>From Cairo to Cape Town, China through its Forum of China Africa
Cooperation and other endeavours, has surpassed US investments on the
continent.
Embracing Africa
Engaging Africa in a much more serious way, particularly within the
foreign policy discourse in the American presidential campaign, would
be an important step. Both candidates must build on the foundation
started by Kennedy and later continued by Obama which sees Africa as a
“fundamental part of our interconnected world,” and seek a
relationship based on mutual “responsibility” and “respect”.
Both things are doable. Trump and Clinton should articulate a concrete
vision and means by which they will implement it. Development is not
just about economic imperatives, and other quantitative things, it
also entails informed knowledge.
The time has come for developed nations to eliminate the large pockets
of ignorance which exist in their society about Africa and other
peoples. Globalisation demands that people ask new questions, seek new
answers, and think differently. For all the challenges, African
communities are coming together. It is, indeed, a continent on the
rise and can no longer be ignored or marginalized.
Received on Tue Sep 20 2016 - 16:22:05 EDT